A Different Beginning
by IceGirl2772
Summary: Co-written with haloangel21. AU of Strange Beginnings. What if Talida was left on a different doorstep as a baby? What if a series of events left her in the foster system? What would happen when Optimus and Arcee find her this time? Optimus/Arcee Jack/OC T for...well, if you watch the show... May be bumped up to M due to violence.
1. Prologue

**OK. As I stated in _Strange Beginnings_, ****this story is a different take to _Strange Beginnings_. Basically, it's what would happen if Optimus and Arcee left Talida with a different family.**

**This story is being co-written by haloangel21. Hopefully, she'll email me the chapter soon. But...no pressure. We all have other things to worry about.**

**We own nothing outside of the plot and all OCs that appear.**

**ENJOY!**

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There are a lot of things that people usually find when they return home. Whether it's just down the street for a half hour or after a lengthy vacation. It can be a parcel or two left on the front steps carelessly by the postman. A mailbox filled with so many letters, it's begins to overflow.

The last thing people would expect to find was what this family would find.

The Wolman family seemed like any other average American family living in Jasper, Nevada. There was Joseph, a man in his late 30s with army-style black hair and onyx eyes. Then there was his wife Alison, a woman in her early 30s with light brown hair and blue eyes.

Then…there were their three children. The eldest, fourteen-year-old Casey, with her father's black hair and mother's blue eyes and is never without her Walkman. Then there were the identical twin boys: ten-year-old Daniel and Jacob. They were the opposite of Casey, inheriting a rare combination of their mother's light brown hair and father's onyx eyes and a flare for mischief.

"Casey, turn off that Walkman, will you?" Alison sighed in frustration as she removed the headphones from her 14-year-old daughter.

"That was the best part of the song!" Casey whined.

"That's why they invented the pause button," Alison retorted.

"That was the best part of the song," Daniel mimicked before blowing a raspberry.

"Real mature, dweeb," Casey muttered as she pushed her younger brother against the car.

"Don't envy what you don't have," Jacob retorted.

"Kids, play nice!" Joseph snapped, immediately causing the three of them to go quiet.

"Honey, what's that?" Alison asked.

At first, Joseph was confused. What would his wife be talking about? Then he turned to the front porch and saw what she was trying to draw his attention to.

It was a small woven basket lined with what they could tell was a light pink handmade blanket. They then saw something stick out from the basket and heard a sound that made their hearts stop and their breath hitch in their throats.

They saw a small hand reach out and heard a small whimper.

"Oh my God!" Joseph gasped.

"There's a baby in there?!" Casey exclaimed in disbelief.

"Cool!" Daniel and Jacob squealed as they raced forward.

"Stay back, boys," Joseph instructed before turning to his oldest child, "Casey, stay with them."

"Shhh… It's OK, sweetie. It's OK, It's OK…," Alison cooed as she reached into the basket and scooped the baby – blanket and all – into her arms.

"How did she get here?" Joseph asked as he peered at the baby over his wife's shoulder.

"I don't know," Alison sighed as she bounced the baby slightly, "Hopefully, she wasn't here for long. The poor thing must be hungry."

"Guys, there's a letter," Casey, who had turned into a responsible teenager upon the sighting of the baby, observed as she reached down and picked it up from the concrete.

"Read it, honey," Joseph requested as he checked the baby over.

"Here it is," Casey announced before reading it,

"_**To the residents of this household,**_

_**Please understand that giving up our daughter was never our intention. However, our current situation wouldn't allow us to raise her ourselves.**_

_**There are people coming after us. Dangerous people who will kill us as well as our daughter should they ever be able to lay their hands on her. This isn't the life we wanted for her. She deserves a better life.**_

_**We will be forever thankful should you decide to take her in and raise her as your own. We know that you will be able to be a loving, stable, providing family for her. That is all we want her to have: a real family.**_

_**Our daughter's name is Talida Corrie. She was born April 13. She is only two weeks old.**_

_**Inside the envelope is a necklace we wish for you to give her when she is old enough. Should you decide to tell her the truth one day, please ensure that she understand that we did this with heavy hearts and we only had her best interests in hearts.**_

_**Take care of our daughter.**_

_**And please. Tell her we love her.**_"

"Whoa," Casey whistled after she poured the silver necklace from the envelope into her hand, "That's a nice necklace."

"It looks like Darth Vader," Daniel observed.

"An upside down Darth Vader," Jacob corrected.

"Is there a birth certificate?" Joseph asked.

"Right here," Casey answered as she grabbed it from the bottom of the basket.

"Yep. That letter didn't lie. April 13. She's only two weeks old," Joseph decreed after reading it.

"Can we keep her?" Daniel and Jacob asked eagerly.

"I don't know," Alison sighed sadly.

"Come on, mum! You were always saying about how you wanted to have another kid!" Casey added.

"When we can afford it," Alison retorted, "The adoption fees, the necessities; we can't spring it right now."

"We can spring it," Joseph promised, "We have that trust fund my parents set up for us before they passed last year."

"We agreed to save that for a rainy day," Alison reminded him.

"Well, the skies are looking pretty cloudy to me," Joseph joked with a smirk before looking down at Talida, "Besides, we can't just hand her over to Social Services. Have you not seen what happened to those kids down the road who ended up in the foster system?"

Alison thought about it for a moment. She realized that her husband was right. They couldn't just give her away after her family had already abandoned her. Those early weeks of a child's life are when a child is at their most vulnerable. Talida would never survive.

"Alright," Alison sighed, causing everyone to smile and cheer before she shot a warning glance at her three children, "But you three have to help out with her. Playing with her, occasionally feeding her, comforting her if I can't and maybe changing a diaper or two. But one thing's a definite: you need to protect her. Casey, you're the oldest in this family. I'm aiming that mostly at you."

"But you two," Joseph began as he knelt on his knee before Daniel and Jacob, "You two are gonna be Talida's big brothers. That means you get to hurt anyone that dares to lay a hand on her and…which I hope will never happen, protect her from any boy that tries to date her. Because that is what big brothers do. Did I make myself perfectly clear, soldiers?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Daniel and Jacob responded happily.

"I'll go call our lawyer," Alison decided, "Who wants to take her?"

"I'll take her," Casey offered eagerly, earning weird looks from Daniel and Jacob, "What? I've always wanted a little sister. All I got were you goofballs."

"Hey!" Daniel and Jacob cried in offence.

Alison laughed slightly as she gently placed Talida in the arms of her older sister. She couldn't help but be proud of the way that her oldest daughter immediately adapted to the role of being a big sister like she did when Daniel and Jacob were born.

In the background, two people watched as the family carried their daughter into the house. Their hearts were already breaking when they realized they would have to do this to their daughter. But now that they had done it, they were sure that their hearts were broken beyond repair. They would never move on. They would never forget the baby they could have had.

The woman had tears streaming down her face. The man was trying to hold it in. He was supposed to be the leader; the strong one. He couldn't show emotion. Especially the emotions he was feeling about the choice they had to make.

A gentle squeeze of her shoulder told the woman what she already knew. Her daughter – the baby she carried for eight and a half months and gave birth to only two weeks ago – wasn't her daughter anymore. She was with another family. She would never know that she was the woman who nurtured her to life.

With heavy hearts, they left. They didn't look back once. They didn't need to. They knew that their daughter would be safe.

If only they knew what would happen as the years went by…

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**You guys know what to do. Review. Alert. Fave. Whatever. halo's currently writing the next chapter. We'll hopefully have it up soon.**

**Oh! Heads up: from the 10th to the 12th of July my time, I will not be able to update or work on any of my stories. I am going on a school retreat with my school year during that time and I will not have the time to work on any of my stories. I will be back on the afternoon of the 12th and hopefully, I will be back to normal programming on the weekend following those dates.**

**BYE!**


	2. Chapter 1

**(7/20/13) Co-Author's Note: Hey, guys. Halo here. This is my first time co-writing with another author, so there may be mistakes in chapters written by me. If you find them, let me know, ok? (PM me, since IceGirl has this story in her archives).**

**Keep in mind that IceGirl's and my writing style are different. I don't want any of you to get confused.**

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Chapter 1

She awoke, with a jolt, from a nightmare; beads of sweat dripping down the side of her face; heart beating frantically; and mouth panting heavily as if she had just returned from a morning jog. It felt like someone had stabbed her heart. And yet, she was used to it.

When she finally calmed down and tried to move her joints, they groaned at the sudden movement, protesting that healing was required. But she didn't care. She had to _move_. She winced at how much they hurt from the previous night's series of beatings.

Now that she thought about it, she looked at the bruises on her body. They covered her from face to feet. Even the slightest sight of the marks made it sting even more. Her hands found their way up to her necklace, where the fingers played with the chain. She couldn't stop herself from feeling the smooth silver metal that was attached to it. The metal that somewhat looked like a heroic robotic face.

The only thing she had left of her birth parents.

Touching her pendant helped her feel hope at times. Hope that she will, someday, get out of this hellhole.

"Talida! Get down here!"

With a roll of her eyes to her foster mother's call, the 14-going-on-15 year old teenage girl sighed. Talida Corrie Edmonds couldn't care less. _So much for hoping_, Talida thought as she rushed to get dressed, despite the pain she was feeling.

Many years had passed since she was left on a porch as a baby. No one had no idea of where she came from or who her birth parents were, but all that mattered was the fact they had a new family member. That is, until a mysterious house fire killed her first adopted family.

No one knew how the house suddenly came up into flames and who was the suspect in the case. As Talida grew, so did the numbers of being in many families in the foster system. Until she'd turn two, most of these foster families were neglectful. Then it took off from that point. It started to go downhill when these families violently abused her, threaten her when they feared she would tell someone in exchange for help.

In her book of records, this would be her 25th foster home and yet, she's only been here a month. The abuse started the first few days after the adoption process was complete.

"Talida Corrie Edmonds. You get your ass down here right now!" Now that was her foster father's voice.

"I'm coming! Sheesh," Talida mumbled as she looked at herself in the mirror. Today, she wore ripped up jeans, a baggy shirt (a hand-me down from her foster mother's aunt), and worn out converse. She smoothed out her hair as best as she could, but it was already dirty enough and was hanging halfway out of the ponytail. A few bruises that decorated here and there were visible in the mirror, but it was nothing that makeup couldn't fix. After several minutes of disguising it, she came down the stairs, turned around a corner, and came face-to –face with Neisha, her foster mother.

Neisha did not look happy. She never looked happy in all her time that Talida spent being in the household. Even her smile on the first few days when the supervisor came to ask how they were doing with Talida wasn't a pleasant one. Talida resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Roll your eyes and get slapped. Play with the other kids whilst telling them what was going on in her current lifestyle and get slapped.

It was becoming more of a routine everyday.

"I called you down once. Your father called you down twice. Don't make us do it again," Neisha's hand came at an astonishing speed and smacked Talida hard in the cheek. She wasn't loving. She was taking care of Talida, along with her husband Gareth, only for welfare benefits. They didn't care about her at all.

Just as Talida recovered from the vicious hit, Neisha had grasped her face with a hand and forcibly closed Talida's mouth from saying anything.

"Not. Another. Word," Neisha glared. "Eat your breakfast. Now." She finally let go and as she did, Talida was gasping for air. The next thing she knew was a piece of mold toast was shoved into her face, saved for a special occasion, just for Talida.

Shaking slightly, she picked the toast up and began to eat it. Only on the first bite she took, she started to gag. Mold toast tasted horrible! She glanced at Neisha, who in return, grinned smugly. She enjoyed seeing her adopted daughter try to retch it back up. If only she had water to wash it down…

"Talida," Gareth's voice came through, "get over here."

While chewing the toast slowly (and gagging some), Talida walked into the living room. Gareth was smoking a cigar, a cup of dark alcohol in his hand, and his feet propped on a footrest. The T.V. was airing his football game and unsurprisingly, his team was losing. Upon her entering the room, Gareth looked up. Bloodshot eyes met tearful ones from eating the toast.

"I heard the front door open at midnight last night. Was that you?" he rasped.

"My boss didn't let me off work until 10. I had to wait for the bus for an hour. If you guys picked me up like normal parents, I would've been home on time," Talida explained.

"And why would I do that?" Gareth sneered. "You're a big girl now. You can take care of yourself." He sucked in on the cigar, took it out and breathed rings of smoke into the ceiling.

"I'm just saying if you guys weren't so busy all the time, you would have time for things like this. I'm getting paid," Talida retorted. Before she could go any further, Gareth's hand threw his cup, full of beer, at her, but instead it missed by an inch and hit the wall, causing it to shatter in half upon contact. Contents of the drink splashed out of it and sprinkled onto Talida as she ducked.

"You know why your parents, your real parents, abandoned you on the front porch all those years ago? It's 'cause they hate you," Gareth taunted.

"No," Talida pleaded. "They told me it was because they couldn't take care of me."

"They didn't want you to exist. And yet, here you are. Living under us." Gareth suddenly gave a mirthless laugh. "They wanted you to die."

"You're wrong! Sure, I don't remember them, but—"

Gareth suddenly got off the chair and smacked her with his hand. "Don't talk to me like that!" Blood formed at the corner of Talida's mouth. Nearby, Neisha watched the whole thing with eager eyes. "Listen to me, you useless pile of shit. While you're no biological kid of mine, you're living under my roof. My house, my rules."

She tried to flee, but he lunged to capture her arm and held her at a dangerous point to where he dug a pocketknife out of his pocket and held the tip of the blade to her neck. "Your parents made you to be a whiny brat. They gave you up because you're a worthless slut. You're not talented. You're not smart. And you never will be. You're just an item waiting to be sold. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."

With that, he shoved her so hard that she stumbled and fell. She couldn't get back up. Her body was already weak. It couldn't handle more.

"If you're not out that door in 5 seconds…," Gareth warned.

"Gladly," Talida retorted fiercely. And she ran out. She ran as fast as the wind could carry her. Tears were already streaming out of her eyes by the time she was a block away from the house. As she walked to school, she wiped the blood off with the back of her hand and stared at it, sighing in defeat.

Why had they adopted her? She might've just stayed in the foster care system for all eternity, if she wanted to.

She'd give anything for a miracle to happen, just anything to get herself away from Gareth and Neisha. Talida sighed. Why? Her fingers, like earlier, played with her unique necklace and she looked at the odd face. It was familiar to her, but she couldn't remember what it was. It had to mean something. Could it be something that could unlock the identity of her parents?

Talida angrily clenched her fingers around the necklace into a balled-up fist. This was their fault. If her birth parents hadn't abandoned her on a doorstep in the first place all those years ago, none of this would be happening.

"Hey, Talida!" Talida looked up at the voice and saw Miko. She had known Miko for two years now. They had first met when Miko saved her from an abusive father whilst still changing different households. The Japenese exchange girl waved as she joined Talida. Her hand dropped once she observed the fresh scars.

"Hi," Talida tiredly waved.

"They doing it again?" Miko asked, eyebrow raised.

"What are you talking about?" Talida lied.

"Those marks…Dude, you should totally get help!"

"Marks? What marks?" Talida muttered as she, unnoticingly to Miko, covered her arms up by pulling up her shirtsleeve. "Honestly, Miko," she smiled weakly, "I'm fine."

This didn't convince Miko that her friend Talida was "fine," yet she knew she wouldn't win the battle and decided to move on to another subject. Since meeting Talida a few years ago, she'd know that Talida was abused nearly everytime she was to live with a family in the foster care system. Each time she'd mention it, Talida would try to find ways to avoid that conversation.

She just didn't like the fear that Talida's eyes always had and wanted to get her some help. Of course, Talida wouldn't know of this. "I just finished my line art. Wanna see it?" she said excitedly.

"Sure, Miko," Talida laughed, thankful for a different conversation, "I'd love to."

As Miko got her sketchbook out, Talida was already self-conscious about anyone seeing her violent abuse of bruises and marks. She tugged more on the sleeves and prayed that everything would be fine. What she didn't know was that her life was going to change by the end of the day.

"Welcome to K.O. Drive In where every patty is a knockout. May I take your order?" Talida smiled at the voice that was stationed near the drive-through while sipping her soda. School was done for the day and Miko told her that her host parents had called about an issue, regarding slipping out of detention, something she didn't look forward to hearing. So she left Talida some money to get some food, in her current situation, and left, saying 'see you at school tomorrow.'

"_Uh, two super combos, extra fries,_" the voice replied. Talida froze. It couldn't be Vince…could it? _Whatever you do, don't fall for it_, she prayed for the cashier at the drive-through window.

"Ok, dos numeros twos. Anything else?" He requested as he started to pack the customer's food.

"_Yeah, some advice,_" the voice sneered, "_how do I get an awesome job like yours?_" The laughter joined along with his through the microphone. Talida could tell that the boy was getting frustrated.

"So that's two for 'not-as-funny-as-we-think-we-are' combos with a side of bite me," he retorted as he dumped the packed food onto the ledge. Talida couldn't help but to whistle at his comeback.

_Nice one, but…_, she didn't want to finish it.

The voice gave another laugh before realizing the punt, "_What'd you say?!_"

"5.59, _sir_. At the_ window_," he emphasized the words. As he turned his back, the car rolled up to the window and the driver took the packages. Talida could hear the laughter that followed and noticed the cashier was too late to stop them as they took off. "Hey, wait! You have to…pay for that!" He slammed a hand on the ledge.

She finished her soda and tossed the empty cup into the garbage. She couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. Even if she has a hellish life, she felt sorry for him. She approached the counter and said, "Here."

He was surprised at not only to see her standing there, but the fact that she was giving him money! Well…the rest of it, anyway. "Oh. Thanks, but I don't want your money. Keep it," he passed it back to her, but stopped when she refused.

"Hey," Talida started, "I saw what happened back there. Vince and his pals did that to me a few times. They're jerks. Take it." When he didn't, she gave a weak smile, "Trust me. You need it."

It took a few minutes, but he finally gave in and took it. "Thanks." He paused, looking at her injuries. "Whoa. What happened to you?"

_Crap._ "I…I fell down a flight of stairs."

"You did?" He gasped, "Are you okay?"

"Trust me. I've never been better," Talida nodded.

"Whew," he sighed in relief. "Glad to hear. I'm Jack. Jack Darby." He offered his hand, in which she did, and they shook.

"Talida. Talida Edmonds," Talida introduced herself.

Jack smiled. "Well, Talida. I can tell that we're going to be good friends."

Talida laughed. "So can I, Jack. So can I."

A few miles from Jasper, a revving sound could faintly be heard. The blue motorcycle drove along the curves of the road as it approached the small town. Electricity crackled as it activated its holoform. The motorcycle was none other han Arcee, a warrior of the Autobots and spark mate to their leader, Optimus Prime. A trail of sadness followed her as she entered the town. A few hours ago, she experienced a tragedy that involved her partner, Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper, who was her close friend. Cliffjumper, who was there for her when Optimus couldn't. Cliffjumper, who was sadly killed by a Decepticon.

But that wasn't the entire reason why.

14 years. It's been 14 years since she and Optimus had to give their daughter up, leaving her on a porch for one particular family to take care of for them. To her, it was always a fresh scar that hurt everyday. No mother should have to give up their child for that cause. Arcee sighed. If only she could have protested more, she and Optimus would be raising her on their own. Just the way normal families would.

A screech of tires broke her trail of thoughts as she peeked in her rearview mirror. Two identical purple cars were on her tail.

"Twins," Arcee mused. While carefully avoiding them, she parked herself in the K.O. Burgers parking lot, and watched closely. They didn't notice her sitting there as they passed by. "Take five, Sadie," was all she said as she turned off the holoform and stuck her pedal stick out.

As Arcee hid in plain sight, she didn't fail to notice the doors of the fast-food restaurant opening. A teenage boy and girl strolled out, laughing about really lame monkey punt jokes. She could listen to the jokes all day if she wanted to, but her attention was merely focused on the girl. Somehow, the girl looked really familiar, as if she'd seen her before.

"Hey, Talida," the boy asked the girl. "What's that necklace you're playing around with?"

_Necklace_? Arcee questioned and took a closer look. He was right. She was wearing a necklace. Could it be her? She inched in a little closer.

"It's something my parents gave me when I was a baby," Talida answered him. "I don't know what it is exactly, but it's kind of cool. See?" She held it out by the chain for him to see.

"It looks like a face," was all he said.

"Well, yeah, Jack. It is," Talida laughed. "Can you see that?"

Jack immediately blushed. "O-of course I can!" Thankfully, his cell phone ringing saved him and he dug his hand into his pocket, pulling the electronic device out. "Hey, Mom. I just got off. No, I'm not going to the dance. Experience suggests that I should never cut a rug…unless I'm installing carpet. Be careful? Seriously? This is Jasper."

_Yeah. Jasper freaking Nevada,_ Talida gritted her teeth.

Something changed his face that caught her attention. When she did, she chuckled. Was he falling for that motorcycle?

"I…love you," Jack whispered before realizing his mother was still on the line, "uh, yeah, Mom. I love you, too. I gotta run! Bye!" He quickly got off the cellphone and approached the bike, "Hello, beautiful. Where have you been all my life?" His hands traced the curves as he whispered once more, "Nice!"

"If only I had a camera, I would capture this lovely moment between man and bike," Talida teased.

"Shut up…," Jack gushed as he sat down on the bike, "it may take a few K.O. paychecks, but I am going to own a ride like you someday.."

"Are you talking to your motorcycle?"

_Oh, great. Speak of the devil…_, Talida rolled her eyes.

Sierra and her nameless friend laughed at Jack's foolishness.

"To my motorcycle? No, uh, I-I mean…Yes, yes! It's mine, but uh, no I'm not talking to uh...well to you I-I am!" Jack stuttered," "How's things, Sierra? Take you for a spin sometime?"

"C'mon, smooth operator, wrap it up," Talida thought she heard something talking. It sounded familiar, but she just couldn't remember on the tip of her tongue.

"You…know _my_ name?" Sierra sounded horrified.

"W-we're in homeroom together," Jack reminded, "I-I'm Jack. Jack Darby." Out of nowhere, bright lights blinded the four of them. Talida had a chance to get a glimpse of the ones behind the lights. It couldn't be another punk, could it? It was two identical purple cars pointing their headlights at them.

"Scrap," Arcee hissed under her breath. They had found her. Tires began squealing as she started her engine. Sierra and her friend screamed for their pathetic lives as they ran off.

"Jack!" Talida tried to reach him.

"Talida!" Jack pulled her onboard. "Hang on!" Talida immediately held onto Jack's waist as they screamed, heading into the narrow exit between the purple cars. "Whoa!"

Metal met metal as they came in contact with each other. With that, they sped ahead, leaving the cars to turn around and follow after them. "You wanna explain this to me now?" Talida yelled as she tightened her hold on him.

"Trust me! I have no idea!" Jack shouted back. "Don't look back!"

"I'm trying not to!" Talida whimpered.

They weren't expecting this to happen, "Do not let go!" A voice came through the speakers. Naturally, Jack and Talida were frightened.

"Who said that?!" They exclaimed in unison, clearly freaking out. To make it worse, they saw the cars had somehow caught up with them and cornered them by the sides. Jack and Talida feared they were going to get crushed. But Arcee wasn't so sure of that. Instead, she pulled back before she could get dented, and the purple vehicles crashed into one another. Leaving them in the dirt, Arcee hastily turned around a corner, not expecting to see what's to come next.

"Commander Starscream, target sighted," one of the vehicles reported via comm link, "Accompanied by two human youths."

A rather girlish shriek replied back, "Destroy them all!" Obeying the orders, they sped off.

In an alley, Arcee stopped immediately, and Jack and Talida instantly got off.

"What are you?" Jack demanded fearfully.

"I don't exist. Tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down," she threatened. She even inched up a little closer to make the warning even more dangerous. Jack ran from it, but Talida was still in her spot. "Go follow him," Arcee gently said.

Not sure why it was gentle on her, but Talida followed after Jack, "J-Jack! Wait up!"

Seeing they left for good, Arcee continued to evade detection from the Cons. Unfortunately, the drones picked up her signal and came charging. In her rearview mirror, she watched as one of them peeled away from the scene, forcing her to curse, "Scrap!"

Her maternal instincts threatening to take over, Arcee made a sharp U-turn and leapt over the one drone that was chasing her down. The drone turned shortly after realizing this and pushed its speedometer to the limit. It wasn't going to back down without a fight.

On the other side of the alley, Jack and Talida were gasping for air as they struggled to run from the other drone, "We don't even know her!" Jack claimed.

"Why are you chasing us?" Talida added.

To their astonishment, their motorcycle had found them, and leapt over the purple car, rolling up to them.

"Hop on!" They heard her urging them. They didn't hesitate and scrambled onto Arcee, tightening their hold on her.

"Whoa!" Arcee sharpened her turning angles, coming onto the freeway. High on their tails, the drones activated their blasters on the sides of their hoods and opened fire.

"Get down!" Jack told Talida.

"Already doing it!" was Talida's answer as she ducked her head. The shots continued to fire until they were well out of plain sight.

"Why are those guys shooting at us?!" Talida demanded to know the details from Arcee.

"There's no us, kids. And there are no guys," Arcee gritted her denta. As they passed another entrance to the freeway, they heard a deep rumble from another car. A deep rumble that was far different from their attackers. This time it was a yellow-and-black striped Urbana 500. Jack and Talida watched in amazement as they watched the newcomer come along and smashed into the Decepticons, causing them to lose control of their tires.

"Friend of yours?" Jack guessed.

"Family," was all Arcee said happily before speeding off to safety. With Arcee and the kids off, Bumblebee had no problem trying to keep the Decepticons occupied. With every swerving of changing lanes, the Decepticons were beginning to get frustrated as one of them finally found an opening and smashed into Bumblebee.

The Urbana 500 could be heard squealing its tires as its paint screeched along the metallic rails.

"Vrroooom! Vrooooom!" Underneath a bridge, a young boy named Rafael Esquivel was playing with his remote controlled car. His cellphone ringed and he picked up.

"Hi, mama. Racing. Right up the street. Ok. Just five more minutes?" He asked hopefully. His mother on the phone agreed and with that, he hung up and got back to his game. "Vrroooooooooommm!"

In their current situation, Jack and Talida sighed on relief, glad to be away from the Decepticons. It wasn't long before they realized that roadwork was up ahead. A dead end.

"Oh! Just kill me now!" Talida buried her head into Jack's back, and shut her eyes. She hoped that this wasn't the end. Unknowingly to them, Arcee shot straight off, Jack and Talida screaming, and met the pavement, rolling down the slope before making a final jump. They landed at the bottom before a surprised Raf, who dropped the remote control out of his hand.

"Whoa," Raf breathed.

Taking a moment for deep breaths, the duo opened their eyes and exhaled. They were safe.

"Ugh," Jack muttered, shaking his head.

"You have no idea," Talida rubbed her forehead, thankful it was over. However, they heard the same engines from before and gulped. The Decpeticon drones managed to find them. Meaning Bumblebee couldn't hold them off.

They all watched as the drones drove off the hill of the slope and changed into something bigger than the three of them: Two large robots!

"Wha-?" Talida spoke up, confused.

Suddenly, the same noise came from behind them and they saw Arcee changing into her bipedal mode.

"This ends here, Cons," Arcee growled. She charged at the Decepticons while avoiding being hit, jumped into mid-air and kicked one down as the other fired a beam at her. A shot that narrowly missed her by a few inches. "Ha!" She yelled as she hit him in the face.

"W-What are they?" Raf wondered as he witnessed the fight.

"Talking cars that turn into robots," Jack began, hoping he was wrong.

"Or the other way around," Talida finished for him.

Arcee went on beating the drone with every punch whilst saying, "This…is…for….Cliff!" She gave him a last uppercut. The drone recovered and flashed his red visor at her. Arcee suddenly realized her mistake and hopped away, using her ninja reflexes. However, a beam managed to successfully hit her in the chest, making Arcee grunt in pain and fall down.

Talida instantly fell down at the same time Arcee did as she felt the same equal pain, "Ow!"

Jack took notice and tried helping her up "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I-it hurts…why does it hurt?" Talida muttered, clutching her chest.

From above, they looked up to find the same yellow and black car from earlier, wheeling off the edge and transforming in mid-air before meeting the ground and punching the drone hard in the face. The other Vehicon struggled to stay upright underneath Bumblebee's foot as he put pressure into it. Finally, he released and stepped back.

_Crunch!_

Bumblebee's optics widened as he lifted his foot, revealing…a smashed toy. Ashamed, he buzzed back to Raf, "I'm sorry…"

"No problem. Really," Raf wasn't sure why he understood, but at least the yellow giant had manners.

Bumblebee was suddenly flown off and landed on his face, earning a few scrapes. The scout made to get up, but a foot belonging to one of the drones, pushed him back down. It released and allowed him to meet his fate by their activated weapons.

Shaking slightly, both Raf and Talida shouted, "Leave him alone!" Making the Vehicons to turn their guns on the trio.

Seeing what they had done, Raf whimpered, "Please?"

Jack crouched as he muttered to Raf, "Bad call."

"No kidding," Talida remarked.

One of the drones told the other to keep an optic on Bumblebee while dealing with other matters and approached them. Jack, being the first to react, grabbed Talida and Raf's hands and ushered them to run, "Come on, come on!"

Talida didn't waste time to argue. She didn't want to be scrap meat and ran.

The Vehicon followed them to a sewer pipe, reaching a servo inside as it made to snatch them with the trio running ahead.

"Keep moving!" Talida urged her comrades. It wasn't long until they heard a crash. Bumblebee dropped by and peered in.

"Be careful," he requested.

Raf smiled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Bumblebee managed to say as he made to finish them off.

Jack grasped Raf's shoulder and advised, "Don't look back."

"What did we just see?" Raf was still wanting to know.

Talida began, "Don't know…"

"And I'm not sure I want to find out," Jack finished as he led Talida and Raf down the tunnel in hopes of finding an escape.

"Miko's gonna be wondering where I am," Talida added as she joined them.

Outside, Bumblebee gave an uppercut to one of the drones and looked for the other one. Unfortunately, the other Vehicon was behind him and kicked Bumblebee's back. The scout twisted himself around to get a better shot of blocking as they continued to beat him up. The Vehicon he first punched on his left hit him in the sensitive areas, causing Bumblebee to fall. His strength was flailing about.

Arcee, who was still recovering from her shock, watched in horror and helped him back up as the Decepticons came closer. Bumblebee was supported off the ground by Arcee and the two returned to their fighting stances. They were ready for anything.

_Honk honk! Honk!_

Arcee and Bumblebee turned to find a green ATV car coming at them. It gave a last honk and transformed into the wrecker known as Bulkhead.

"Who's ready to rumble?!" Bulkhead challenged.

Luckily, the Cons, who simply didn't want to be beaten into scrap metal, transformed into their alternate modes and left. Once they were gone, the Bots dropped their stances (Bumblebee being the one to slump and groan).

"What took you?" Arcee demanded.

"Traffic," was Bulkhead's sheepish answer.

"This isn't going to look good on my report," Arcee said sadly. "Especially when you're the spark mate of a Prime." The two mech Autobots looked at her as if she was crazy. "What?"

* * *

**Would've gotten this up much sooner, but my parents and my sister didn't let me be on here all day to finish it up. It was quite frustrating, really. Other than that, like I said earlier, if you spot any mistakes on here, don't hesitate to let me know so I can fix it. Please PM me on this matter because this story is in IceGirl's archives. It's hers! You hear? HERS!**

**Another thing. Talida ain't mine. Ok? Good.**

**-Halo**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello, my lovely people! It took me a while to write this one because I forgot what I was going to write.**

**I'm not gonna do review replies in the author's notes for this story. It's sort of too hard to do considering this is a co-written story. It's mine and haloangel21's brainchild!**

**Remember. If you have something you really want to say to halo about her chapters in private, feel free to PM her because this is on my archive. Also, remember that we have completely different writing styles. So try not to get confused.**

**We own nothing. Everything Transformers related (except for our OCs and this plot) rightfully belongs to The Hub, which, in turn, belongs to Hasbro.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

Even hours after the event, she couldn't believe it.

She had seen her daughter again. Something she didn't think was possible.

Arcee sat in the quarters she shared with her spark mate, her mind still reeling She couldn't get over how she looked. Despite what she wore, she still looked beautiful to her. Arcee recognized her daughter by two factors.

The necklace she wore around her neck. Only one of its kind had been made. This was done so they would be able to identify her when the time was right.

And…she had her father's eyes.

"Arcee?"

Arcee looked up at the sound of his voice. Optimus Prime stood before her. Concern written clearly across his faceplates. His hydraulics hissed as they always did as Optimus sat on the berth next to her.

"What is it, Optimus?" Arcee asked.

"I am concerned, Arcee," Optimus confessed, "You have been acting strange since you returned to base with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Particularly when I decided that we have to bring the humans tomorrow."

"I just don't think it's the best idea," Arcee chose her words carefully, not wanting to give it away, "I mean, we just lost Cliffjumper to a Decepticon attack. How do we know it's not going to happen with the humans?"

"They would be in even more danger if they were left unguarded, my love. You know this as well as I do. Any attempt to protect them is better than none at all," Optimus reasoned, "Perhaps if you told me what happened out there…"

"I already did, Optimus!" Arcee cut in as she stood up and backed away from him, "I was patrolling around the town when I spotted Decepticon twins on my tail. I hid in plain sight and I was doing well until the humans spotted me in the car park. We rode around Jasper until we managed to land in that drainage canal. The battle went on, the humans managed to get to safety and it ended like that. There is nothing else to say."

"I know you, Arcee," Optimus rumbled, a knowing look flashing across his face, "You are hiding something from me."

Arcee knew that she couldn't hide this from him anymore. He had to know. Because she would be coming to the base tomorrow.

And she was his daughter as much as she was hers.

"She has your eyes," Arcee murmured.

At first, Optimus was confused. What did she mean by 'she has your eyes'? Then…it hit him. He only knew of one person that has his eyes.

And she happened to look just like her mother in every other aspect.

Hadn't Optimus already been sitting down, he was sure that his legs would have given out beneath him from the shock of Arcee's declaration. He knew that there was the possibility of them seeing her again since they arrived on the planet where they left her with another family almost 15 years ago. But he still knew that the possibilities were slim, since they weren't sure whether or not she was still in Jasper, Nevada.

Until now, that is.

"You…you saw her?" Optimus stammered.

Arcee only nodded, suddenly unable to form even a one-worded answer. Optimus glanced up at her fully, his optics unusually watery. Choking on a sob, he leapt forward and took his spark mate into his arms, planting multiple kisses on her head. The two-wheeler didn't hesitate to return his embrace, tears of joy spilling from her optics.

She wasn't willing to admit this. But in the short time they had her, Talida was a daddy's girl. She would be content by simply being carried around in her father's arms. She loved both her parents dearly despite the short time she was with them. But she had this bond with Optimus that no one would be able to understand.

"She's so beautiful," Arcee whispered.

"Love, you must understand that no matter how much we want to, we cannot tell her the truth about her heritage. She cannot know we're her parents," Optimus decreed.

"But, Optimus!" Arcee went to protest.

"Arcee, you must understand why we have to keep our relation a secret from her. The reason we left her with another family was to protect her from this conflict. You know what the Decepticons will do to her should they discover her existence. And I would rather die than lose my daughter to something I started," Optimus decreed.

Even to this day, Optimus still blamed himself for the war ever coming to be. Arcee knew this. There were times where Optimus wondered what would have happened hadn't Orion Pax spoken up that fateful day before the council. Megatron would probably be ruling Cybertron under tyranny and the fate of Cybertron could have possibly ended up being the same. The only difference between the two situations was that in this current situation, there were ones who were brave enough to fight the tyranny.

"Optimus, you know as well as everyone that you did the right thing that day. Hadn't you stood up to Megatron before the council, we'd still end up here. Actually, you might have died and I probably would have never been sparked. But most importantly, we wouldn't have had Talida. I'm mean, sure. Cybertron went dark and the war doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon. But…I believe that something the humans say is 'home is where the heart is'. And my home is with you," Arcee stated.

Optimus sighed heavily, something that he often found himself doing. In a way, Arcee could be a Prime herself if it weren't for her occasional rashness, desire for revenge and her many reckless actions in the battlefield. Whenever he was down, she knew what to say that would make him feel better in a matter of moments. Even if the feeling would only be temporary, the fact that she would try was all that mattered. If she failed…well…

There was always Ratchet and pounding Decepticons into scrap metal.

"I understand you not wanting to bring her to the base now that you told me. However, I can not take another almost fifteen years without seeing her," Optimus decreed.

"We're getting our baby back," Arcee whispered tearfully.

Optimus smiled himself as he embraced her tightly. He missed Talida as well. Maybe more than Arcee did. Seeing her again was certainly an idea they had difficulty wrapping their heads around. They refused to believe that it was real. Not until they saw her at the base themselves.

Arcee leant up a little, trying to get closer to his face. It didn't take Optimus long to realize what Arcee desired. So he satisfied her needs (mostly because he felt the same needs as well) and leaned in as well.

The kiss was originally meant to be short, chaste and sweet. However, with these two, short, chaste and sweet was never enough to satisfy them. The kiss quickly became long, fast, hot and heavy. Arcee inhaled sharply as they fell onto the berth, his body hovering over hers. Close. But not touching. It drove her insane.

"Open up, femme," Optimus growled against his neck cables as he sunk his denta into them.

Smirking, Arcee slowly ran her hand down her stomach as she reached for her lower plating. Optimus instead snarled and quickly pinned her hands above her head.

"Not there," Optimus rumbled, gazing at her chest plates.

Silently, they were thankful that everyone else had insisted on them getting soundproofing when they first moved into the base.

* * *

**Short. Sweet. The kind of chapters I usually prefer, to be honest. You get them uploaded faster and you get more room to work with future plot points.**

**The next chapter should be up pending on when halo finds the time to write it. I'm not pressuring her. I mean, we all have our own lives and other stories on here (and other sites, in my case) to worry about. So please. Don't nag her. Don't nag me. Don't nag any of us. It'll be up when it's up.**

**You guys should know what to do by now. Review. Fave. Alert. Whatever.**

**BYE!**


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